


Unloved

by MrsSarabiHolmes



Series: Bad Memories (Harley Quinn leaves Joker) [2]
Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Breakup, Drama, F/M, Sad, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-08
Updated: 2020-06-08
Packaged: 2021-03-04 06:28:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 987
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24609175
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MrsSarabiHolmes/pseuds/MrsSarabiHolmes
Summary: Joker thinks Harley is joking again, threatening to leave forever. But is it? Will Joker react like it's nothing or will it break him? One thing's certain, he'll experience a wide array of emotions he thought buried for good. Maybe the joke's on him after all...
Relationships: Harley Quinn/Joker, Joker (DCU) & Harleen Quinzel, Joker (DCU)/Harleen Quinzel, harley quinn & joker
Series: Bad Memories (Harley Quinn leaves Joker) [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1779004
Comments: 1
Kudos: 13





	Unloved

**Author's Note:**

> Hello folks!
> 
> This fanfic accompanies "Bad Memory" and is from the Joker's POV this time around. Expect many emotions!
> 
> I hope you enjoy!
> 
> As always, please leave kudos or comments; I thrive on them!

Such a joke!

Harley was hee-hee-hilarious! Standing there, at the door, staring at him so hard. Joker laughed and laughed, slapping his thigh in the never-ending process.

Was she leaving? AGAIN?!

Always the same old running gag. He’d beat her, she’d beg and cry, and he’d help her up … before making sure she fell down—oops—again. Then, Harley would run away only to come back at his charming words. They all said—he heard those murmurs in his back—he was a jerk, but she was a bitch for letting herself be helpless like that. _His_ bitch.

So here they were again? Playing that same old game. A rush of bitter anger rose in Joker’s throat, escaping in a scoff and a wicked grin.

“Lil’ Harley’s angry? Nothing’s changing with women!”

She was stupid. Plain stupid in an extravagant outfit. A harlequin, made to be ruled by a king … or the joker card.

And there she was, stomping her foot and pointing at him. Her face looked like a puffer fish.

“And _you_ are overrated!”

Joker was sure she expected it to slap him like a brick, but it was mild. Surprising coming from his admirer, but mostly an irritation, nothing more. After all, whatever she said, she’d come back. His Harley always did. After all, a Joker needed his Harlequin.

_No, no, not neeeeeeded … more like possessed._

He raised his eyebrows and lifted his palms up to her. Instead of hanging onto his surprise, Joker quickly masked it—wasn’t he just good at that?—by bursting into laughter. She was getting funnier with every time she faked her departure. If she kept it up, maybe she’d overthrow Bats as the most amusing thing in his life.

_Nah, not gonna happen. She’s just Harley…_

“Overrated? Everyone knows my name, I can never _be_ overrated, dear.”

“My heart thinks you are, though.”

Oh, wasn’t that just sweet? And pathetic. Despite himself, there was a thread pulled at his heart, but he couldn’t—didn’t want to—focus on it. What if Harley finally went away? Left? Forgot him?

His heart squeezed and a darkness shrouded his vision. Joker took his best medicine: he laughed.

He had to play it up. Play his best—worst—card. Or else—he felt it—, their relationship could crumble to ashes. A relationship … it had been so long. In his old life. His awful life. Harley was better than this, and he liked pushing her around despite her clinging. Or _because_ of her clinging. His mind was confused, but he was sure of one thing: life was much more entertaining—even tolerable—with Harley around.

So here he went, playing the monster with whom Harleen Quinzel fell in love. Because that was how he knew she’d stay. Right? RIGHT?!

Panicked within—for no reason he wanted to articulate—, Joker grinned and stood up, languidly walking to her. He took out a knife from his coat’s inside pocket and fiddled with it.

He noticed her sucking in a breath—how wonderful—and how she grabbed the door handle—fear, perfect—.

“You know what I think of your heart, _Harlequin_?” he whispered with a venomous drawl.

She shook her head like his good puppet she’d always been. This reassured him, forcing a smirk on his lips. No matter his calm appearance, his heart hammered in his chest. What if he was wrong? No, he was never wrong…

“One, way too expectant. Two, too cumbersome. And three … way too… LOVING!”

Joker slashed at her with his knife, taking her by surprise. Harley gasped and jumped aside, the knife cutting her forearm. She clenched her teeth and protected the bleeding gash.

He COULDN’T be wrong! She wouldn’t leave! She was the only light in his darkness. He wouldn’t go back to being miserable! Alone. Laughing, but destroyed within. Faithless. Sorrowful… Lonely. Abandoned. Despised. Alone.

_Unloved._

His heart thumped harder as he clenched his teeth. His face was distorted, fury blazing in his chest. Harley froze for a second, gazing at him like she’d seen a ghost—his heart—.

Harley threw a punch at his face and his head snapped backwards. A distinct crack could be heard as his nose broke under the hit.

The pain was nothing next to his shock. Joker blinked, then brought a hand to his nose as blood poured down his throat and face. She had never done this. Well, maybe once, but it didn’t count. Was this a bad joke? Must be.

Joker glared at her, but she spat on him and shouted her venom.

“Enough, you little shit! I erased you from my heart!” she yelled, nearly destroying the walls with her intensity and long-buried pain. “You’d best stay away from me forever; I don’t love you anymore. You’re _nothing_ to me. Go to Bats and see if I care.”

_Don’t love you … anymore?_

His brain couldn’t—wouldn’t—comprehend these words. That wasn’t his Harley, was it? Slowly, as though dissociating, Joker felt the world darken, lose its shine, doom him … as it crumbled to charred ashes. Even as Harley walked past him and opened the door, letting the light stream in, his world kept darkening. No hope, no chance, no love…

This wasn’t a game anymore. He wasn’t having fun. Where was his Harlequin?

Slowly, he looked at her again. She looked like an angel, with that backlight. His angel bringing down a sword on him, banishing him from Heaven.

“And you’ll just be a bad memory, Joker.”

Then Harley left, just like that. Just like he meant nothing.

The Joker without his Harlequin.

This was no joke for once.

He was still on his own and

_unloved_.

Staring at the pieces of his heart trailing in Harley’s wake, Joker’s world spun and he fell to his knees.

Always alone.

The beauty left the beast.

Always a monster. A miserable, hurt, abandoned monster.

Was he born just to be unloved?


End file.
